


Introductions Were Never My Strong Point

by Fumblemore



Category: Daredevil (TV), Iron Fist (TV), Jessica Jones (TV), Luke Cage (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Defenders (Marvel TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Multi, Original Character(s), complete buffoonery, like seriously, terrible ideas, this is a mess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-31 12:06:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 10,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13974789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fumblemore/pseuds/Fumblemore
Summary: Matt is dead, Jessica is drinking, and Luke is keeping Danny from getting himself killed. The so-called team has fractured, and it takes a new member, a resurrection, and a threat unlike anything they've seen to reunite them.





	1. Matt

Matt couldn’t see. 

That was the norm, being blind, but he couldn’t even see the way he could normally.

He gaped his mouth like a fish as he desperately searched for some sort of sense, anything to indicate that he wasn’t being smothered by a dozen pillows. 

There was nothing.

Panic began to flow within him, moving his arms for him as he searched blindly for sensation, continuing to rise as he found nothing. 

He had no way of knowing if he was moving, where he was, who was near, nothing. 

He’d been blind for nearly his entire life, but now he literally had nothing. 

It was hell.

A scream began to build within him, when a voice echoed within him. It wasn’t his own, and it scared the shit out of him.

“Calm down. I’m coming to get you out. They’ve dosed you with painkillers, it’s somehow completely nullified all your senses. I can feel your panic, and if you don’t calm down, you’re going to hurt someone.”

Matt felt himself calming, the voice soothing him. He tried to say something, but he couldn’t form the words. The voice, however, knew what he was trying to say.

“I’m the one who’s gonna save your ass. What were you thinking, letting a damn building fall on you?”

Again, he tried to say something and failed, and again, the voice knew. 

“I know why you did it, idiot. I'm in your head, remember? Sorry, by the way.”

Matt struggled again, and continued to stay silent.

“Yeah, I’ve kinda seen most of your memories. It’s gonna be pretty awkward when we ultimately meet, for you, at least. Anyway, stay quiet, the nuns are coming back. I’m on my way.”

And the voice was gone. Not just in that it was quiet, but Matt no longer felt a second presence in his head. The panic was gone, replaced with blind trust in that his delusions would break into wherever he was and save him. 

He began to recite a prayer in his mind, and waited. 

What else could he do? The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, waiting on the voice inside his head to come save him.


	2. Jessica

Jessica Jones was a hard drinking, mess of a woman. A man she’d considered to be someone undeniably special had said it, and she couldn’t say he was wrong.

The bartender had had her thrown out, after she smashed one of the displays round the back of the bar. 

It was fucking stupid, if you asked her, to store booze in such a ridiculous way. It was practically begging to be knocked down.

The person who’d thrown her out had done so with relative ease, which was a testament to how drunk she really was. Normally, she’d have thrown him into a wall for his trouble. Now?

Now she was lying in a dumpster, and trying not to think about Matt. 

That was also dumb, because she didn’t care. That was the point. She’d been through enough shit to learn not to give a rat’s left tit about people, and here she was, fighting back memories of the dumbfuck blind lawyer who’d given his life for the team. 

She caught herself as she thought it. There was no fucking team. Danny might have a hard on for those kinds of adventures, but she’d said goodbye to him and the rest of them when the shitstorm at Midland Circle had finished. 

She clambered out of the dumpster, nearly denting it in the process, and stumbled towards what she hoped was a cab. 

She practically fell in, throwing the driver a few notes and listing off her address, before leaning back in the back seat. The cabbie grunted in disapproval, before beginning to drive, and she groaned. 

Luke would probably be spouting some nonsense about friendship and looking out for each other, if he was here. Oscar would probably do the same. And who knows what Trish would say.

A pulse of anger flashed through her at the thought, the image of her mother’s brains exploding across her own face still seared into her mind. 

She froze for a moment, a cascade of emotions and memories washing over her, and she grimaced. 

“Birch Street. Higgins Drive.” she whispered, under her breath. Of course, if Matt was there, he’d hear it. But he wasn’t.

“Cobalt Lane.”

She breathed out, the wave having passed. She glanced up, and saw that the cabbie was staring at her, annoyance written across his face. 

“For the last time, we’re fucking here. Get out.”

She groaned again, and stumbled out of the car, shouting “Asshole!” at the cabbie as he drove away. 

A few minutes later, she fell into bed beside Oscar, barely disturbing him as she crashed into the bed. Vido stayed asleep, thank god, and she fell into a dreamless sleep, a fugue of her mother, Matt, Luke, Kilgrave, Trish, and every fucking thing in between. 

By the time she woke, the alcohol had been completely purged from her system, and she felt perfectly fine, if fine consisted of barely repressed anger and anxiety. 

The bed was empty beside her, and she rose so she was sitting, just as Oscar came back in. 

He didn’t say anything, just sat down beside her and took her hand. He was silent for a minute or two, and she appreciated it, but soon it became suffocating, and she found herself desperately willing him to talk. 

“So, you drank a lot last night.” he said, and she nodded. 

“You doing okay?”

Nodded again. “Dandy.”

He gave her a look, before sighing, and leaning in. She kissed him back, revelling in the lack of guilt that used to flood her when she was with Luke. Matt may be dead, and the rest of the so called team may be ignoring her, and her best friend may have killed her fucking mom, but Oscar was here. 

And she was okay.


	3. Luke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two in a day. Couldn't resist. The OC is coming, don't worry.

Luke Cage grunted as bullets pummelled into his back for the third damn time in a day, and found himself cursing Danny Rand yet again. The kid was fantastic company, and a good friend, but sweet christmas if he didn’t drag the ex-con into more trouble than he realised. 

Clicking filled the air as the magazines emptied, and Luke turned to face the attackers. They were fighting in an abandoned warehouse, and one of the gangs had taken over, using it to package and move drugs to different areas of the city. He had no idea how Danny had found out about it, but here they were. 

He stepped forward, yanking one of the guns out of their hands and crushing it, using the metal ball to knock one of them out. Danny was leaping and flipping amongst them as they tried to swing at him, every blow he swung hitting its mark and knocking them out cold. 

Luke paused for a moment, allowing himself to admire the sheer skill on display. Danny had come a long way since Midland Circle, not even needing to use his Iron Fist as much anymore. There was something else there, too. The bigger man thought he could detect a sense of determination, as if Rand was trying to prepare for a fight that would never come. 

It made sense, of course, as the only people who could stand up against him were now buried under tons of rubble. 

There was a pang for his lost friend, but he quashed it. Murdock was dead, and that was it. 

While he was admiring his friend’s handiwork, one of the thugs had gotten close and thrust a knife into Luke’s neck. The metal snapped, pinging off into a distant corner, and Luke laughed. 

He turned, and slammed his arm into the man, throwing him to the ground with such an impact the wood shattered and the thug went through, eliciting a groan of pain. 

He turned back, and saw the floor littered with bodies as Danny walked over, brushing his shoulders off. 

“Leave some for me next time.” Luke chuckled, and Danny flashed him a grin. 

The two walked into the back office, and found a weedly man cowering in the corner, who yelped as soon as they came in. 

“Don’t hurt me! Please! I just do the numbers, I never hurt anyone, I swear!”

Luke glanced at Danny, who looked similarly concerned. Regular drug runners didn’t usually have someone specifically for the books, raising even more red flags about the place. 

“Who’s in charge here?” Luke demanded, using his best ‘don’t fuck with me voice’. Apparently, it worked, because a small puddle began to spill out from beneath the man. Luke grimaced in disgust, and took a step back. 

“Luke, take a look at this!” Danny called over. Luke nodded, and stepped past the man sitting in his own piss, and walked over to where Danny was hunched over a desk. 

As he got close, Rand flailed a sheaf of paper at him. 

“What is it?”

“The books. Specifically, funds being moved into this shell company. Doesn’t it look familiar?”

Luke looked a little closer. “Shit. Mariah?”

Danny nodded, before putting the paper back. “Let’s call Misty, she can bring the police here, launch an official investigation. This could be what puts Mariah and Shades away for good.”

Luke found himself agreeing. His faith in Misty had gone a long way in diffusing his distrust in cops being able to do the right thing, especially after she lost her damn arm saving Colleen and Claire, something he could never thank her enough for. 

The two turned around, and immediately everything went south. 

The weedly man was lying flat, blood spilling out from underneath him. Luke rushed to check him, rolling him over to reveal a bullet wound in his eye, utterly destroying his brain and killing him instantly. At least it had been quick.

Danny ran out of the room, and cried out in shock. Luke quickly put the body down, and joined his friend outside, and immediately was rooted to his feet by the sight of the room. 

Every single body now had a pool of blood spilling out from underneath them, and one of them was pinned to the walls by a series of daggers. 

“What the fuck.” Danny whispered, and Luke looked away, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

“Misty? Yeah, it’s me. Listen, you need to get here right now. That warehouse I told you about, we took out most of the guards, but someone’s come in and killed them all before we could question them.”

He paused as Misty responded with her usual mix of sarcasm, anger and professionalism. 

“Yeah, yeah we’ll wait for you. See you.”

He hung up, and continued looking on with a numbness he’d not felt for a long time.

He stayed looking, even as the sirens began to approach.


	4. Jessica

There was a long day ahead of her, and Jessica was dreading every moment of it. With Malcolm gone, she was back to doing everything herself, which was perfectly fucking fine, but it meant that she had to deal with all eleven clients today. 

Fuck. 

She’d already finished her half empty bottle of whiskey, and was sorely tempted to crack open the other one, when a bizarre feeling came over her. It was almost a sense of calm, of safety, and she felt herself relaxing slightly. There was a knock at the door, but she didn’t move, instead basking in how free she felt all of a sudden. 

Then, as quickly as it arrived, it was gone, and she was left with a mixture of confusion and panic coiling in her gut. 

She shook her head, trying to clear the weirdness that had just happened, and got up to answer the door. 

When she opened it, there was no one stood there, instead just an envelope. Caution spread within her as she picked it up, running her finger across it, trying to discern if it was dangerous. 

The back simply read “Jessica Jones”, no return address or stamp. Weird. 

She closed the door, walking back over to her desk and sitting down, tearing the card open as she did so. 

Inside was a simple rectangle of paper, and written across it in a mad scrawl were the words “Clear a space, I’ll be bringing you a gift soon.”

Immediately, alarm bells starting going off in her head. Who was it from, what was it for, and what sort of gift was it that it needed space?

She mulled it over, opting to open the second bottle as she did so, when a voice came from the doorway. 

“Um, excuse me, I have an appointment?”

Jessica glanced up, and saw her first client of the day leaning around the door she apparently forgot to close. She didn’t say anything, instead gesturing to the chair in front of her. The client sat down, and she forced herself to put the note into a drawer, and pushed it from her mind. 

“So, start at the beginning.”


	5. Frank

Frank Castle was enjoying being an innocent man, if by enjoying you meant getting so bored he was genuinely considering pissing off another sect of some sort of gang to keep him busy. 

He was tapping his foot on the floor as leaned against the wall, still in awe that yes, he was still innocent, and yes, the government was no longer trying to kill him. 

The memories of his family dying had begun to fade, but were still there at the edges of his mind, taunting him if he ever got low. 

He’d been spending a lot more time with David, Karen, the support group, Curtis. Karen had laughed and told him it was like he was starting again, and to be honest, it felt like it. 

He could tell she was still upset, and he got where she was coming from. Red was dead, under a mound of rubble, and he’d been right in guessing she’d been in love with him. Poor girl had apparently been in ruins before Frank had resurfaced, and occasionally that would shine through when he saw her. Simple moments, like her turning to glance at no one, or a tear falling as she heard the tap tap of a blind man’s cane. 

Frank missed the bastard too. Sure, he’d almost forced Red to kill him, but the man’s morals and determination were nothing short of impressive, far and away earning the Punisher’s respect. 

He still laughed at the stupid nickname, although it did do him a world of good in terms of fear. He’d practically become a bogeyman. 

The watch on his wrist beeped, and he smiled. 

He quickly swivelled round, leaning over the wall with a heavy rifle in his hands, aiming down at the van that had pulled up to the building opposite. He’d received intel that the Kitchen Irish were back in town, trying to claw back the losses he’d given them. He’d be sure to teach them the errors of their ways. 

Three men stepped out of the van, one of them pulling a briefcase with them. Whatever was in it, Frank didn’t care.

He’d loaded the first round in his magazine with an explosive tip, so it was only fair he use it on said briefcase. 

It exploded in a ball of fire, the silencer doing work in hiding his location. Immediately, the three men tried to scatter, but within moments they were all dead on the floor, and Frank sighed. It was almost too easy. 

As he leaned back, he saw a flicker run across the pavement, and he quickly re-scoped, pointing the silenced sniper rifle back at the pavement. 

Before he could act, however, a voice cried out within his head. 

“For fucks sake, don’t shoot! I’m not with them, Punisher!”

He was stunned, unable to move, and the shadowy figure managed to quickly run into the distance, escaping his vision entirely. 

He didn’t notice, instead falling back against the roof, entirely in shock. 

“What the fuck was that?” he said to no one in particular, and lay there, trying to come to terms with the fact that someone had just been inside his damn head.


	6. Luke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loving the response so far guys, and its very fun to read your comments!

Luke was sat in the police station, having just given his statement, when his phone rang. The ring pierced through the hubbub of the station, and he quickly answered it.

“Yeah?”

“Hey, it's Claire.” He smiled, already warming at the sound of her voice. “Just wanted to check up on you. How long are you going to be?”

“I’ve given a statement, no idea what Misty’s keeping me here for.” As he said it, the woman in question walked in, her relatively new bionic arm humming as she did so.

“Sorry about the wait, Cage.”

“I’ll call you back” Luke muttered into the phone, and hung up, pocketing the device and giving Misty his full attention. 

“What’s happening?”

She sighed, and sat down. “Listen, you vigilantes are going to get yourselves arrested sooner or later, causing this amount of trouble. Do you know how many bodies were in there?”

Luke shook his head, and she tapped the table with her new fingers, drumming a beat.

“Twenty eight. All with a bullet in the brain, and you didn’t even notice.”

“I don’t know what happened, I told you. We found information about Mariah and Shades in the warehouse, we must have been distracted. We weren’t even aware that anyone had died until we turned around.”

She sighed again, and leaned back.

“Luckily for you, there’s no link to you two being the actual murderers. However, it does mean that whatever shit you’ve gotten mixed up in, it’s being protected by someone who moves like a damn ghost. You guys need to watch yourselves.”

Luke nodded. Despite his invulnerability to bullets, he could still be hurt. There were rounds out there that could do serious damage, if he didn’t act smart. 

“You’re free to go. Rand is too, he’ll probably meet you outside. And for the love of christ, stay out of this.”

He nodded again, and got up to leave. As he stepped towards the door, Misty grabbed him by the arm. He put a bit of strength into trying to pull away, but the bionics whirred with intensity, locking him in place. He raised an eyebrow, and Misty grinned. 

“It has perks. And I’m serious, stay out of this. Whatever bear you’ve poked, it’s got claws. And while you may be bulletproof, neither Danny nor Claire is. Got it?”

“Of course, Misty.” Luke said sincerely. He agreed with the sentiment, but at the end of the day, it was Danny that dragged him into shit like this, not the other way round. 

He walked out of the station, immediately spotting Danny leaning against a black SUV, wolfing down a box of chinese food. 

“You okay?” he said through a mouthful, and Luke laughed. Danny smiled, revealing teeth flecked with sauce, causing Luke to laugh harder.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Lets go, we gotta get Colleen and Jess to help us with this.”

This caused Luke’s laughter to shudder to a stop. “Danny, you can’t be serious. Misty literally just told us to let them handle it. You saw how quiet that dude was, we should let the cops have this one.”

“Come on Luke” Danny whined, “it’s been ages since we had a proper team up. This seems like the kind of thing that calls for it!”

Luke sighed. “You know Jess won’t join us. She wants nothing to do with the whole vigilante thing. It’s unfair on her to ask, really.”

Danny pouted. “But bad guys who can’t be heard? Connections to high flying politicians? It sounds like something for the Defenders!”

The other man groaned at the use of the nickname Trish had slapped onto the group after Midland Circle. “Look, if Misty asks for help, we’ll help. But we can’t keep pissing the police off, it’s gonna land us both in jail.”

Danny was silent for a moment. “Fiiiiine” he said, dragging the word out several seconds longer than it should’ve been. 

Luke walked around to the other side of the car, but before he could open it, his phone went off again. 

He pulled it out, and frowned at the name on the screen. 

“Who is it?” Danny called over, having binned the empty takeout container. 

“It’s Jess.”

Danny’s face lit up, and Luke held up a finger. As he did so, he thumbed the “answer” button, and pressed to his ear. 

“Jess?”


	7. Jessica

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's going off.

Jessica Jones hated waiting. 

Admittedly, a large part of her job was sitting around waiting for someone to do something criminal, but usually that wasn’t so bad. Now, though?

She was driving herself up the wall. 

She’d somehow made it through all her clients without once thinking about the note, but now it was late, and she’d been staring at it for half an hour before she’d thrown it at a wall and began pacing. 

Who was this guy? What did he want? Questions like this, and more, swirled around her, practically blinding her to the outside world. It was so overwhelming, she almost didn’t hear the door knock. 

However, she did notice the sense of calm that flooded her as the knock echoed throughout the apartment. 

She ran to the door, yanking it open, and felt the breath leave her. 

For there, standing in front of her, was Matthew Murdock. Dead Matthew Murdock. Stupid Matthew Murdock. 

Alive Matthew Murdock. 

He looked like shit, face haggard and weary, his torso wrapped in bloodied bandages. He was swaying slightly, and his eyes were closed, and the whole thing was so surreal she hadn’t said anything for upwards of a minute. 

“Matt?” she asked, finally, and he didn’t answer. 

“Sorry, he’s still asleep.” came a voice from behind. Before she could even think of what to say, a head poked out from behind Murdock, a black piece of cloth wrapped around its jaw. 

The man behind walked in, Murdock somehow following him in. He gestured slightly, and Matt fucking floated into the air, before descending gently onto the sofa. 

The man then turned to face Jessica. She couldn’t read him, thanks to the fucking stupid mask on his face. 

Christ, she was gonna need a drink. 

She span on her heel, grabbing the third bottle of the day and twisting the cap off, taking a huge swig while the man just stood there. 

“You’re the one who left the note?”

“Yep, that’s me!” he said, too chirpily for her tastes. 

“How?” 

The man looked confused for a moment. “I grabbed a pen and paper, an-”

“Not that, asshole” Jessica interrupted, fixing him with a withering glare. “How the fuck is this dumbass still alive?”

He appeared to think for a moment, the mask still hiding most of his face. “I don’t know. He doesn’t either. The nuns at the convent he was being held in had memories of a woman, black hair, depositing him on the steps outside. Do you know her?”

“Elektra.” Jessica seethed. 

“Ah, I’ve seen her before. Well, I haven’t. But Matt has.”

“Sorry, what the fuck are you talking about?”

“Um, that’s one of my powers. I can sometimes get into peoples heads, see their memories, make them feel things.”

A piece of the puzzle clicked into place. “Is that why I felt calm when you arrived?”

He nodded enthusiastically. “I find it helps with first impressions. Worked on the Punisher, too.”

“Sorry, you’re with the Punisher as well?” Jess growled, keeping one eye on Murdock at all times. 

He raised his hands defensively. “No, no! I just accidentally walked past some of the people he was shooting the other night.”

Jessica leaned back, anger still pulsing within her as she burned with unanswered questions. 

“Who are you?”

He straightened his back, and affected an impossibly weird accent that couldn’t have intimidated a puppy if he tried. 

“I’m the Wraith.”

The glare was back, and he visibly shrank under its intensity.

“Look, we don’t all get cool names from the press, like old Daredevil over here. Plus, I gotta keep my identity a secret, you know?”

“No.” she grunted, having never been afforded such a luxury. “Why are you here?”

Wraith thought about this for a moment, before sighing. 

“I wanted to join the team, help protect the little guy. I have no idea what I’m doing. From what I gathered, you all missed Matthew here, so I thought if I brought him back to you, you’d give me chance.”

Jessica barked a laugh. “You got bad information, buddy. I’m not a part of their team. You should’ve taken him to someone else.”

“But you’re the one who missed him most.”

Jess froze, the truth searing into her like a hot ball of anxiety. She had missed him, sure, but the most?

“Plus, the others were busy tonight. They only just got out of the police station.”

She quiet for a minute before responding. “I gotta make a call.”

She walked into the semi privacy of her bedroom, and pulled her phone out, dialling an oh so familiar number. 

“Jess?” came Luke’s deep rumble. 

“Luke, get over here. Some guy showed up, and guess what he fucking dragged in.”

“What?”

“Matt.”


	8. Jessica

Within half an hour, the entire fucking lot of them were at her door. Luke, Danny, Claire, Colleen. She had no idea why Colleen was there, but she didn’t particularly care. 

After all, a stranger and a dead man were also in her apartment.

Claire had rushed to the sleeping lawyer, quickly checking him over for any injuries. The others, however, joined Jessica in regarding the stranger with distrust. 

The mask was still on, and Wraith was apparently completely unaware of how pressing the silence was, instead staring at Matt with intensity. 

“Who is this guy?” Luke asked, to no one in particular. Jessica sighed, and shrugged. 

“No fucking clue, just showed up with Matt and asked to join the team. Calls himself Wraith, or some shit.”

Danny’s face lit up, but was immediately surpassed by Luke’s snort. 

“Sounds ridiculous. What can he do?”

This apparently roused Wraith from his focus, and he turned to face the Hero of Harlem. His eyes widened and the visible skin paled, causing Jessica to snort this time. 

“Um, wow, you’re big. And shit, Danny’s here as well. Fuck, this isn’t going how I expected it to.”

The three of them watched as the man stumbled through a few other sentences, before coughing and starting over.

“Hi all. As you know, I’m Wraith. And, uh, I can do stuff like this.”

At once, his voice sounded in their heads with a single word. “Sorry.”

He then gestured, and Danny began to rise into the air gently, floating in place. The man in question’s face lit up, and he turned to smile at Luke. 

Luke, however, was fixing Wraith with a warning glare, while Jessica was going for outright hostility. 

“What do you think?” the man tried, and Danny laughed as he descended to the ground.

“Awesome! We should totally bring him on the team!”

Jessica had another drink, before asking her question.

“Why come to us? You could probably get an audience with fucking Tony Stark with shit like that.”

He mumbled something, looking away.

“Care to repeat that, fucker?” she demanded, and he continued to avoid her gaze.

“He scares me.”

Luke laughed out loud. “And we don’t?”

Wraith shifted uncomfortably in response. “Well, kinda, but you guys help the little guy. Just keep the neighbourhood safe. I don’t want to get wrapped up in keeping the whole planet safe, that’s a lot of pressure.”

Danny still looked happy to bring him on, leaving just Luke and Jessica to decide. Colleen would’ve surely had some sort of opinion, had she not been assisting Claire. 

Luke shrugged. “Wouldn’t do any harm to have someone to help when shit hits the fan.”

Jessica sighed, and took another swig. “This is insane. I can get behind Murdock’s freaky senses and Danny’s yellow hand” she said, glaring at Danny before he could retort. 

“But this is on another level.”

Luke nodded in agreement. “True, but I’ll be honest Jess, I feel like we’re gonna need all the help we can get.”

“But we don’t really know what he wants. He could be trying to infiltrate us or something, I don’t know” she argued. 

“If it helps, all I want to do is help people.” Wraith cut in, and Jessica was about to turn and show him why that was a bad idea, when a voice came from the sofa. 

“He’s not lying.”

Everyone fell silent as Matt struggled to his feet. Jessica felt warmth flood her as she saw him stand, no longer swaying.

“Thank you, Wraith. I don’t know how I would’ve survived that hell without you.”

Wraith didn’t respond, but the shine in his eyes suggested he was smiling under that mask. 

Matt rubbed his forehead, turning it slightly to face the rest of them. 

“Hey guys. I guess I didn’t die?”

Danny rushed forward before the others could say anything, sweeping him up into a hug that elicited a visible wince from the lawyer. 

“Leave him alone, his ribs are still healing.” Claire scolded, and Danny stepped back, chastised. 

“So who is this guy?” Colleen asked, and Claire nodded in agreement. “Mmm, who’s this new vigilante I’m ultimately gonna be saving the life of repeatedly?”

“Wraith” the guy said, and Matt sighed. 

“Wherever I was kept, the medication completely nullified my senses. I had nothing. He somehow got into my head, promised me he was coming, and that stopped me from losing my shit. And yeah, I don’t know what happened exactly, but I’m here now, and I’m pretty sure it’s thanks to him.”

He turned to Wraith, who nodded before realising his mistake. “Uh, yeah, I got you out of there.”

“So to me, he seems like a good addition to the team.”

Jessica growled. “Hold up, Murdock. You sacrificed your stupid ass, put us all through hell. Not sure if you’re as large a part of this team as you think you are.”

Silence reigned, Wraith frantically looking between each member with desperation in his eyes, when Luke spoke.

“Jess, you haven’t been involved since Matt disappeared.”

She spun, rage in her eyes. At the sight of Luke’s earnest expression, however, she deflated. 

“So how do we do this? Shall we vote?” Danny asked, grinning madly at the prospect of a new friend. “All six of us should.”

There were hums of agreement, and Jessica sighed before nodding. 

“Okay.” Matt said, with uncertainty. They’d never had to do this before. Admittedly, they’d only done one thing as a group, and that had ended awfully. 

“All in favour of bringing Wraith into the group, raise a hand, I guess?”

Danny’s hand shot into the air. Matt’s was quick to follow, along with Luke’s, then Colleen and Claire. Jessica was the only one with her hand down, and Luke raised an eyebrow.

“Thought we had a rule about masks.” she muttered, nodding towards the black fabric stretched across Wraith’s face. “We know who Daredevil is, it’s only fair we know you, too.”

Wraith sighed, before pulling the mask down his face, revealing a young teenager. 

“Shit, he’s a kid?” Luke said, taking a step forward. “We can’t bring a kid into this shit.”

Wraith scowled. “I’m not a kid, I’m 17.”

Jessica laughed. “Oh for christ’s sake, he’s practically a baby! No, no way, he’s not coming on the team.”

He continued to scowl, before flexing his palm. 

Before any of them could react, Jessica flew into the opposite wall, crashing into it, hard. The laughter was gone, and she looked at him with a smirk.

“It’s like that, then?”

She went to move her arm, when nothing happened. She tried to move her head, and again, nothing happened. She could feel herself straining, pushing against the invisible barrier that held her in place.

She glanced at Wraith, who had turned red and was shaking as he held his palm up. The sheer power behind her arms was actually causing him to physically strain.

She pushed again, as hard as she could, but nothing happened. Panic began to set in, flashbacks to when she had no control over her own body, when He’d done whatever He’d wanted to, and she couldn’t do a thing, not a fucking thing...

Her mind clouded and her expression went blank as she was catapulted into nightmares. She braced herself for the near unending torture, when it suddenly vanished, replaced with a bizarre sense of calm. 

She opened her eyes, looking up at Wraith, whose arm was now lowered and was now simply staring at her, his own eyes blank.

“Sorry” came his voice inside her head. “I hope I helped there.”

She nodded, slightly, and he broke out in a grin, before turning to face the others.

“I’m not just some kid. I want to help people. Let me.”

He said it with such conviction Jessica felt herself agreeing. The others remained quiet, and he looked on with hope and openness in his eyes.

He was waiting. Waiting for their decision.

“Oh for fucks sake.” Claire broke the silence, fixing the group with a bored look.

“This guy wants to help people, and it looks like he’s gonna do it with or without your help. Plus, I think we’d all feel a lot better if you had someone this strong watching your backs. I say we bring him in.”

Wraith smiled, wide and bright. 

Luke sighed, and nodded. Danny’s enthusiasm hadn’t faltered, and Matt was clearly for the idea. 

Before Jessica could agree, Colleen spoke.

“Why do you need us? Like Claire said, you’re pretty powerful.”

“I have no idea what I’m doing. I don’t have the first clue in how to deal with a syndicate, or find a crime to stop. But you guys do, somehow, and I want to help. Plus, I could use a bit of training. Just to test the limits of what I can do, you know?”

Colleen nodded, satisfied, and stepped back. 

“I guess you’re in.” Jessica spoke, and the smile widened far enough that she was genuinely worried he’d tear a part of his face.


	9. Luke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team interactions! Fun! And now the pre done stuff is over, meaning that updates will become slower. I can only apologise.

A few weeks after Wraith had joined the team, he came to Luke with an...odd request.

“You want me to what?” Luke asked, bewildered.

Wraith had a straight face as he repeated the question. “I want you to hit me.”

Luke glanced around, still confused by the kid’s question. “Why?”

“Just do it, I want to test something.”

“I don’t want to hurt you, kid.”

Wraith pouted. “Luke, you won’t. This is to see how much I can hold with my mind. It’s stuff I need to know, if I’m going to help you when Misty inevitably asks for your help with the case.”

Luke sighed. The kid’s mind-reading abilities had proven themselves useful, but sometimes it was damn annoying. He’d already told Danny that Luke was starting to get bored, prompting the billionaire to drag him out on yet another mission. 

“As long as you know you won’t get hurt here.” Luke acquiesced. Wraith nodded happily, and Luke sighed again. 

He pulled his arm back, and swung towards the kid. As it sailed through the air, it suddenly stopped in place. The kid’s face was starting to go red as he put more power into it, pushing and pushing against the kid’s mind. 

He was a bit away from his full strength when the barrier crumbled and his fist flew past Wraith’s head, throwing him off balance and nearly knocking himself onto the floor, had Wraith not quickly supported him with a slight push. 

Wraith’s hands were shaking as he asked Luke to do it again, this time pushing down.

“Don’t you need a breather?” 

“No, it’s fine, do it.”

Luke smirked. The kid had a lot of similarities with Murdock, who was still struggling through the swamp that was him returning to the land of the living. He’d heard Matt was preparing to meet Foggy and Karen, who still had no idea the dumbass was alive. He was glad he wouldn’t be present for that conversation.

He shook the thoughts from his head, and swung his arm downwards, impacting the invisible barrier again. He forced it, pushing again. Wraith was trembling, veins popping out of his head as he strained against the larger man’s sheer strength. 

Luke eased off slightly, and immediately he felt Wraith’s voice in his head.

“Don’t. Keep going.”

He was hesitant, but the kid looked so determined, he couldn’t help himself. He piled all of his strength onto it, pushing and pushing, until Wraith gasped and his arm shot through the now empty air, obliterating the floor beneath it and hurling him off balance. 

Harlem’s Hero crashed into the ground while Wraith’s breathing began to slow. 

“Christ” he gasped as Luke got to his feet. “You pack a lot of strength, don’t you?”

Luke shrugged. “You okay, kid?”

Wraith nodded. “Yeah, if it’s all the same with you, I think I’m good for today. Might try again in the future though.”

Luke nodded his agreement, and the kid smiled. 

“Anyway, wanna grab a pizza? I know this great little place round the corner.”

Luke smirked. “Alright, kid. I’ll call Danny, he can buy for us.”

The smile grew, and Luke felt his heart melt a little. 

The two walked off, Luke calling Danny to meet as they did so.


	10. Matt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys are enjoying this, feel free to comment, love reading them :D

Matt had faced many trials before, many challenges. He’d basically died, for goodness sake. But he’d never been as scared as he was now, even when the building was coming down. Although, the drugs under the nuns care had been terrifying.

Regardless, he was shitting himself as he sat in the waiting room of Hogarth’s new firm, something about associates. Jessica was on his left, having promised him that she could convince the woman to help return him to life, a job Hogarth had been doing excellently in exchange for a multitude of favours. However, that wasn’t the reason Matt’s heart was pounding. 

It was who they were meeting, today. 

Matt’s breathing deepened as he thought about his best friends. Foggy, and Karen. He had no idea how they’d react, if they’d even want to talk after they’d seen him. It had been six months since he “died”, and six weeks since Wraith had saved him.

Speaking of, Wraith was on his right, feeling uncomfortable in a skinny black suit. Matt could hear his heartbeat, almost as fast as his was, and he didn’t blame him. The kid had never been in such a professional environment, as far as Matt was aware. Wraith had clung to Matt like a lifeline after he’d saved him from the monks, talking to him about anything and everything. 

Matt found it oddly refreshing. It was like the kid was a younger Foggy, the amount of shit he could talk about. The others were all tiptoeing on glass around him, apart from Jess, for fear of aggravating some older wounds. Even Danny refused to spar with him, and it was driving him up the wall. 

He felt Wraith’s heartbeat flicker, and soon after heard his voice inside his head. 

“Sorry again for taking a peak, but if you need a reason to start sparring again, it’s something I’m pretty sure I need to learn. If you don’t mind teaching me, that is.”

Matt smirked, nodding his head slightly. Whenever Wraith visited his mind, it was always pleasant, filling him with warmth and calming him almost completely. 

However, when the assistant came and informed them that Mr Nelson was ready for them, his nerves exploded again. 

Jessica took point, then Matt, then Wraith, supposedly to stop him from backing out. That wasn’t his style. Murdocks never backed away from a fight. 

The three of them walked in, greeted by Foggy’s tired voice. 

“Jones, I don’t have time for your scariness today.”

“You’ll make time” came the biting reply. 

The three of them stood opposite the hunched over Foggy, who sighed and looked up.

“For the last time....” he trailed off, stunned to silence by his best friend.

His dead best friend.

“Matt?” he asked, voice quivering.

Matt could only smile at his friend, who quickly leapt over the desk separating them and enveloped him in a hug, nearly crushing his newly healed ribs. 

Soon after, though, the happiness was over and Foggy pushed him away, a look of fury written across his face.

“Where the everloving fuck have you been?!” he shouted, and Matt flinched. 

Matt could sense Jessica’s hackles rise as she prepared to leap to his defence. However, both of them were surprised when Wraith responded. 

“He was kept under sedation by a group of nuns. He doesn't remember how he got there, but we assume his ex dropped him off after the building fell on him. I found out where he was, got him out, and he’s been recovering from the withdrawal and sensory shit since.”

He sounded calm as he said it, but Matt could hear his thundering heartbeat and sense the fear radiating off of the kid.

Foggy, however, appeared to calm after hearing it. “And who are you?”

Wraith smiled, holding out his hand. “James. Pleasure to meet you.” Matt could tell from where he stood that the palm was sweaty, as could Foggy when he took it. 

“Nice to meet you too. So you know about Matt and his...activities?”

The kid nodded happily. 

“Riiight” Foggy dragged the word out, moving his head to look at Matt and Jessica, who both shrugged. 

“Aren’t you a little...young, for all this?” Foggy said gently, and the kid laughed, tilting his head.

“You’re worried what Marci is going to say when she finds out you’ve been sneaking fast food behind her back.”

Matt chuckled as Foggy’s mouth dropped open. Before he could react, Wraith spoke again.

“And also, Spiderman is younger than I am, so I’m pretty sure I’m good.”

This elicited a response, this time from Jessica. “Wait, you know Spiderman?”

“Not personally” the kid said, defensively. “But I did meet him a while back, got a reading.”

“So you know who he is?” Foggy said excitedly. Wraith, or James, paused for a moment. 

“No.” he said carefully, and Matt didn’t mention the lie.

Foggy sighed, and turned back to Matt, a grin splitting his face.

“I missed you buddy.” 

The two embraced again, and Jessica shuffled uncomfortably. 

“Should we give you two a minute?”

Foggy was chuckling as he broke the hug again. “Honestly I want to spend hours talking with you dude, but I have a meeting in about twenty minutes. Swing by the apartment tonight, you can have dinner with us.”

Matt felt joy fill his body, nearly causing him to visibly shake.

“Thank you, Fog. That means the world to me.”

The two hugged again while Jessica and Wraith stepped outside, where Matt could hear Jessica confronting him. 

“Did you do anything in there?”

He could sense the kid shifting awkwardly. “Maybe. All I did was take a look to prove I had powers, and remind him of his meeting. Matt’s forgotten this, but we have a second appointment today.”

Jessica whistled. “Ah, shit. The journalist?”

Matt tuned the rest of the conversation out, instead focusing on his best friend. Wraith was right, of course. They did have to go see Karen as well. 

As if on cue, Foggy pulled back. “Does Karen know?”

Matt tried to hide the guilt, he really did. But Foggy saw straight through it. 

“You need to tell her.”

“We’re going to the Bulletin after this.”

Foggy sighed, leaning back against his desk. “Go, now. She needs to see you.”

Matt nodded, not trusting his voice. 

“We’ll talk about this tonight, okay?” Foggy murmured, pulling Matt into another hug. 

Matt continued to stay silent, just standing with his best friend, arms around him, clinging on for all he was worth.

It was all he could do.


	11. Matt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terribly sorry friends, it would appear that I was bitten with the "no motivation" bug. A short update, but I have some idea of where this is going. As for whether I actually go through with it, that remains to be seen.
> 
> As always, please leave comments, I do enjoy them terribly.

An hour later, Matt’s nerves were spiking again as he stood outside of the New York Bulletin Headquarters, knuckles whitening as he tightened his grip around his cane. 

Jessica had left after they’d walked out of Hogarth’s offices, leaving just him and Wraith. James had been quiet, allowing Matt to focus on what was about to happen. 

“You good, Matt?” he asked, and Matt nodded in response, taking a single step forward, when a voice cut through the hubbub of the street. 

“Red?” 

Matt felt his heart pulse as he smelt the copper, the smoke, the sweat that always radiated Frank Castle. 

“Hello, Frank.” he said evenly, keeping his voice from trembling. 

“Holy shit, you’re alive. She’s gonna be so goddamn happy.” Frank beamed, slapping Matt’s shoulder. 

Matt was about to respond, most of his fears having been alleviated, when he made a connection. 

“Wait, you know about...what I do?” 

Frank laughed. “Course I do, Red. Karen let it slip. Speaking of, let's get you up there. She’s gonna be grinning like a madwoman.”

Matt smiled, and followed as Frank stomped through the foyer, Wraith close behind. The receptionist gave them a look, before they stepped into the elevator. 

Wraith shifted uncomfortably as the two men stood in silence, Matt’s grip on his cane tightening. He could sense the kid was uncomfortable, nervous, but he ignored it. He had more pressing matters to deal with. 

The elevator dinged, and Frank led the two of them to one of the offices. He pushed the door open, and stepped inside. 

“Hey Karen. Got a surprise for you.”

“Frank, I’m really busy right now....” she trailed off as she looked up from her desk, mouth dropping open as Matt gave a weak, sheepish smile. 

“Matt...” she whispered. 

Before anyone could say another word, Matt heard the telltale sound of a gun being cocked. He let his instincts take over, and took action.

“GET DOWN!” he screamed, throwing himself at Karen, pinning her to the floor. 

Immediately, gunshots tore through the windows, one of them catching Frank in the shoulder. 

“Shit!” he yelled, pulling a handgun from its holster and squeezing off a few rounds in response, before crouching behind the desk with the others. 

Wraith had thrown himself the opposite direction, crashing into the wall and gently floating to the floor. Matt could sense the raw fear coming from the kid, and felt a swell of pity. 

The gunfire abruptly stopped, and Matt heard another sound, like metal clinking. He wondered what it was, when Frank bellowed at the top of his lungs. 

“GRENADE!”

He focused his hearing, and sensed the explosive roll into the room from the doorway. Panic filled him, and he quickly realised that this could be it. Death by grenade, in a reporter’s office. 

The grenade exploded, and Karen flinched, but there was no fire, no impact. 

“The fuck?” Frank asked, and the other two got to their feet. 

Karen gasped, and Matt struggled to sense what was happening. He could smell the smoke of the explosion, and almost hear a raging fire, but he had no idea.

“What’s happening?” he asked, and Karen shook her head in disbelief.

“Your friend, he’s making the explosion float?”

Matt breathed a sigh of relief. Wraith had protected them all, covered the explosion with whatever his powers were. 

Within a few seconds, the explosion ceased, and Wraith exhaled. 

“That was hard.” he muttered. 

Frank was on his feet, running out of the office. James was quick to follow, but instead dived straight out of the window.

“What the fuck?” Karen yelped, and Matt sighed. 

“Look, I’m sorry about this, we’ll continue the whole...” he trailed off, and gestured between them.

“That conversation, later, okay?”

Before Karen could respond, he grabbed a scarf resting on the coat rack, and began to tie it around the top half of his head as he jumped out of the window.

As he fell from the sixth floor, he suddenly realised how much faith he was putting in the kid. 

“Come on” he hissed. “Come on!”


	12. Wraith/James

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new face appears! Let me know what you think :)

“This was a mistake” James thought to himself as he fell towards the ground, desperately using his power to slow himself down. 

He managed to slow himself around the third floor, and he glanced around.

Before anyone could spot him, he yanked his mask back across his mouth, hopefully concealing his identity. 

The whispers came at him as he opened his mind, searching for their attackers. A second or two later, he found them, both consumed with running as fast as they could from the scene. 

Wraith shut his eyes, focusing on his power, and floated across to the opposite building, gently depositing himself on the solid structure. He breathed a sigh of relief, allowing elation to flood him as he realised that yes, he could fly. 

That elation was quickly shattered by the sheer sense of panic he felt coming from the building. He span, and saw Murdock falling to the ground, and immediately swore before reaching out with his power. 

He knew he couldn’t outright stop him, he’d splatter for sure. So instead, he used the momentum of the fall, combined with a little bit of his power, to hurl Matt towards the building he was currently stood on. With his other hand, he mentally created a net of sorts to catch him, and then lowered him to the floor. 

“Why did you do that?” he half shouted at the blind man who was wearing a frankly ridiculous light blue scarf. 

“The same reason you did, kid. The two gunners are about three buildings in...”

He pointed, and Wraith sighed. 

“You’re lucky I was there to catch you.”

“I knew you would.” Matt said simply, before darting off after them.

Wraith shook off the surprise that filled him following Matt’s confession, and quickly followed. 

He was tempted to shout “Hey, watch this!” but then remembered that Matt wouldn’t be able to see. He chuckled softly to himself as he ran, his footsteps slowly rising into the air as he created a barrier below him.

He kept running, getting higher and higher, the barrier forming under each foot. Soon, he was a solid foot above Matt, and while the man below had to flip across the gaps between buildings, Wraith simply ran over them.

The gunmen were also running, but they were pulling away. Wraith panicked, thinking that he wouldn’t be able to catch them, when the door to the building in front of them burst open, and Wraith could’ve cried.

The Punisher stepped out in all his glory, pointing a pistol at the two gunners. They skidded to a stop, glancing back to see Matt landing on the building, breathing heavily, and Wraith himself descending slowly. He never felt as cool as he did in this moment, and wondered if the others felt the same way. A quick peek told him that Frank was fighting the urge to kill the bastards, along with the pain of the bullet wound in his other shoulder, and Matt was just focused on catching his breath. 

Clearly, the months of inactivity hadn’t done wonders for his stamina. 

“Who do you work for?” Frank bellowed, and the two gunmen didn’t say anything. In response, Frank shot the two of them in the leg, eliciting a cry of pain as they both fell to the ground. 

Wraith gagged slightly, and turned to face Matt, expecting his face to be twisted in disgust. 

Shock crashed through him as he was met with the stoic, angry face of Daredevil, who simply looked on while Frank interrogated.

*Why don’t you have a problem with this?*

Wraith’s whispers into Matt’s mind changed nothing on the surface, but he could feel what the other man was thinking.

*They were going to kill Karen.*

The sheer hatred that poisoned his thoughts forced Wraith to turn away, wishing that something changed. This wasn’t what heroes did.

As he thought it, he felt a new presence come rushing in. Wait, two presences. One was almost childlike, immediately pushing him into protective mode, and the other was almost blank. The childish one was familiar, but the blank one...

The childlike one appeared first, landing gracefully on the doorway Frank had come from just ten minutes earlier, and Wraith sighed. 

“Hey, you shouldn’t be doing that!” Spiderman shouted, aiming his wrist at Frank, who simply stared in astonishment. 

“Who the fuck are you?” he growled, slowly moving his gun to aim at the teenager.

*Frank, stand down, he’s a kid.* 

Wraith forced the thought into Frank, who blinked and shook his head, lowering the gun. 

“Hey, Spidey, long time no see?” Wraith tried, and Spiderman cocked his head. 

“Wraith? What are you doing here? I thought you were a good guy!”

He sighed, and connected his mind with Spidey’s.

*Listen, the two guys on the floor shot up the Bulletin while we were in there. The man with the gun right now is the Punisher, and the man next to me is Daredevil.*

Immediately, he sensed the fear emanating from the kid in front of him. You couldn’t live in New York as long as Peter had without hearing the whispers about the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, and everyone in the city knew who Frank Castle was. 

Before he could say any more, the two gunmen slumped over. Before Frank could move, Daredevil spoke.

“They’re...they’re dead.”

The surprise in his voice was obvious. Frank growled, before turning to face the Devil.

“Okay, where’s the killer?”

Matt shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know, I didn’t even know there was anyone else on the rooftop.”

He growled again. “What’s the point of supersenses if you can’t hear this shit coming? What about you, kid?”

Wraith did a quick sweep, and found the blank signature hightailing it down the one of the fire escapes.

“There!” he yelled, and pointed. 

The four of them swung into action, Spiderman literally. He leapt from his perch and swung away, while the other three ran towards the fire escape. 

Wraith was the first to make it, and received a bullet to the shoulder for his troubles. He cried out, falling back, while the other two slowed down. Matt stopped to check on him, while Frank vaulted the wall, own gun in hand, but no sound followed. 

He didn’t care though, he was consumed with the pain that swarmed his shoulder, spreading across his body like a wildfire, and he screamed. 

As he did so, something kept repeating in his brain. 

You’ve got to get the bullet out.

He grimaced as he released what he had to do. Focusing as much as he was able, he reached into his own wound with his mind, his screams reaching a new pitch as the energy closed around the bullet. It had split in two, and as he closed on the second segment, he felt a hand on his shoulder. 

No. Interruptions.

A muted yelp came through the fog, but Wraith didn’t have time for that. The hand was gone, which was something. 

He had both segments, and slowly began to remove them. Any faster, and he’d do more damage. He silently thanked Frank for the knowledge gleaned from his mind. 

The screams continued, his throat running raw, when the two shards plinked onto the floor. 

A sigh of relief escaped his lips, and he leaned back, allowing his eyes to open. 

Spiderman was back, but he had his hands in the air in a placating gesture, while the Matt was lying on his back, moaning in pain.

“Woah” Wraith said, “what happened?”

Spiderman cocked his head, eyes whirring in confusion. “Don’t you remember? You threw him away with your power, and made all of us hear you shout “No interruptions” in your head. It wasn’t very nice” he rubbed his forehead as he said it, and Wraith grimaced.

“Shit, I’m sorry. Wasn’t really focused on the rest of the world.”

Frank reappeared as he vaulted back over the wall from the fire escape. 

“I lost him. Disappeared into the crowd.”

Matt sighed, as if expecting the bad news. “I hate to say this, but I think we need back up.”

Wraith felt elation explode within him as he grinned at the still masked Devil.

“We’re gonna assemble the Defenders?”

The man groaned, as Spiderman leapt up with excitement. 

“You’re in the Defenders too, Wraith?”

He nodded, and Spiderman’s eyes practically boggled, as well as robotic components of Stark-tech could.

“I knew you were cool!”

Before the conversation could continue, Frank cut in. 

“If it’s all the same to you, Red, I’m gonna duck out. The police will be here soon, I suggest you freaks do the same.”

And without another word, Frank dived back over onto the fire escape, quickly disappearing from view. 

“We ought to move too, Wraith. Thanks for your help, uh...?” Matt trailed off.

“Spiderman” Peter said, puffing his chest out with pride. 

“Right, okay. Well, thanks for your help, we’ll see you around.” 

Matt began to walk away, Wraith quickly following while still clutching his shoulder, when Spiderman spoke up again.

“Hey, can I help, you know, with this guy? I can be really helpful, promise!”

“Kid, listen, I appreciate the offer, but we don’t really need anymore help.” Matt replied gruffly, and Wraith winced.

*Sorry Pete, I’ll try and wear him down.*

*Thanks Wraith.*

Spiderman nodded, and fired his webshooters, swinging around a recently refurbished building and disappearing into the distance. 

Wraith sighed, and turned to face Matt, a grin slowly spreading on his face. 

Matt groaned. “Don’t you say it, I can tell you're smiling, don’t say it.”

Wraith ignored him completely, instead affecting a deep, gruff impression of the marine that had just left.

“It’s time t’ get the band back together.”


	13. Danny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I suck at writing this. Didn't realise people were reading it ngl. Still, here's another bit for ya. The gang is rudely interrupted mid team meetup by an old villain, one I'm annoyed hasn't shown up since their debut. Let me know what you think.

Danny had never been more excited.

The six of them were sat in the dojo after Matt had called a meeting of the Defenders. A grin split across his face at the thought of the old team coming back. Even Jess was there, standing between Colleen and Wraith. 

“So you think the guy you saw was the same guy who killed all the guys at the warehouse we were at last month?”

Matt and Wraith nodded. “Plus, he can avoid both mine and the kid’s detection. He’s incredibly quiet, and I can barely smell him.”

“Yeah, and he keeps his mind blank the entire time he’s working.” Wraith piped up, and Danny quirked an eyebrow.

“Surely that makes him easy to pick up in a crowd if he’s the only one with nothing going on up there?”

Wraith nodded enthusiastically. “You’d think that, but the second he’s in a crowd he fills his head with the same shit they all have swirling away up there.”

“I don't get why you needed to call all of us here for this bullshit” Jessica sighed. “No offense to you all, but it’s not like good shit follows us when we team up.”

Danny felt his heart swell at the idea that Jess was calling it a team up, before quashing it quickly. 

“Don’t you see? This is an extremely skilled warrior, someone who’s probably trained his whole life. Now, surely that’d be really expensive to hire twice?”

Matt nodded slowly, running a hand across his stubble. “You’re onto something. Someone has to have some major assets to be able to use this guy. And they clearly hate us, as they keep taking witnesses and trying to kill people we love.”

“Do you think one of the Hand survived?” Luke said, glancing between the others. 

Matt nodded again. “Could be, or it could be Fisk trying to take down Daredevil again. Prison isn’t doing shit against him.”

“Don’t forget, we found Mariah’s name on a lot of shell companies involved with the warehouse we raided” Danny added, and Matt groaned.

“So it could be any of them” Wraith cut in. “So what do we do?”

Danny stepped forward. “We gotta find this guy, somehow. He’s the only one we know who works for whoever’s trying to mess with us.” He glanced over to Jess, who groaned.

“Please don’t involve me.”

“Jess, come on. We need your amazing P.I. skills!” Danny smiled, and Jessica practically growled.

“Flattery won’t get you anywhere, Iron Clad.”

“Please?” Danny pleaded, and Jessica continued to glare at him when Wraith spoke. Well, shouted.

“GET AWAY FROM THE FUCKING WINDOWS!”

Colleen, Danny, and Matt moved immediately, instincts taking over. Luke turned to face what was coming, while Wraith darted across, using his mind to practically throw Jessica into the back.

A colossal green fist exploded through the wall, grabbing Luke and hurling him out of the building.

“What the fuck is that?” Jessica spat, getting to her feet. 

“I’ve got no fucking clue, all I’m getting from it is anger!” Wraith shouted back, floating into the air. 

The five of them jumped down from the now ruined dojo, landing on the street. Luke was on his feet, attempting to trade blows with the green, skeletal mass of muscle. The oxymoron of the situation was ridiculous, but it’s what it was. 

Luke punched the monster in the hip and was slammed into the concrete for his trouble. Colleen let out a war cry, and charged forwards, slashing across the creature’s thigh with her sword. It roared in anger and swung it’s arm into her, hurling her into a nearby wall.

“Colleen!” Danny screamed as she flew towards the wall when she quickly slowly and gently floated to the floor. Danny glanced over and saw Wraith give him a quick smile, before leaping into the air. 

Danny cracked his neck, feeling the calm spread across him as he summoned his chi. He glanced down, smiling as his fist began to glow with vibrant yellow energy. He darted forward, weaving between the beast’s punches, and slammed the fist into its chest. 

The monster flew back, crashing into the building opposite. It growled, pulling itself out of the hole it created and fixed Danny with a glare that made him quiver.

“I may have made a mistake here,” he muttered to himself as it charged towards him, roaring all the way. 

He dived to the side, expecting his feet to be clipped, but no impact came. He looked behind him, and his jaw dropped. 

Jessica stood, straining against the creature. Wraith was behind her, and Danny saw him thrust his palms forward, hurling the monster back. 

“Jesus Christ Jess” Danny whispered, and Jessica fixed him with a withering stare. 

A battle-cry echoed across the field as Matt ran towards the creature, scarf wrapped around his head. He slid between the legs as it rose to its feet, and threw a punch into its back. He cried out before the monster grabbed him by the waist. 

“Pathetic” it growled and hurled him into the air. 

“Wraith!” Luke bellowed, leaping up and slamming his fist into its jaw and knocking it to the floor.

“On it!” he shouted back, leaping into the air and Danny watched in amazement as he soared into the sky, catching Matt and disappearing over the building behind them. 

As they disappeared, Danny felt a sudden pulse of energy flood him, along with Wraith’s voice in his head.

*I’ve realigned your chi, we need all the help we can ge-*

It cut off, which startled him, but he didn’t have time to dwell. 

The creature was slamming his colossal arms into Luke, pounding him further and further into the ground. 

He felt anger flare at his best friend being injured but quickly calmed himself, allowing his chi to flow through again.

This time, he watched in astonishment as both of his fists began to glow, and a grin broke out on his face.

This was gonna be interesting.


End file.
